(11 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
Why not Dean for HHS? He did a hell of a job, and he gets squat while failed WS bankers get billions for failing.
In backing Dean, Newsweek columnist Eleanor Clift admitted he’d be an unconventional choice. But as The Nation noted in a recent editorial, isn’t that what Obama’s “team of rivals” philosophy is all about?
Obama prides himself on how magnanimous he is, so you can’t rule out that he might reward someone who like him was an early and consistent opponent of the Iraq War, who helped lead the party out of the wilderness and who many Democrats think has been badly treated. Obama certainly wouldn’t have to give Dean the dual portfolio with the White House title that he had so easily conferred on Daschle. And Emanuel is a political realist. If Obama went with Dean, he wouldn’t fall on his sword over it; he’d probably find other ways to get his revenge. That’s how Washington works: don’t get mad, get even.
Why not Dean? We backed him for President because we believed in his integrity and his passion.
Sanders urged President Obama to name Howard Dean to head the Health and Human Services Department. The physician and former Vermont governor is “eminently qualified,” Sanders said.
Sanders’ letter followed the endorsement of Iowa Senator Tom Harkin.
Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva–who made the shortlist for Interior Secretary–penned a letter to Obama making the case for Dean. “While most of the public have only known Howard as a ground-breaking candidate for president and one of the most successful leaders of our party, I have also known him as [a] champion for universal healthcare,” Grijalva wrote. “It has been the cause of his life.”Grijalva also addressed Dean’s critics in Washington, which may still including Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who clashed with Dean during the ’06 elections. “In recent days I have heard some Washington insiders question Governor Dean’s political credentials and accuse him of being too partisan to build consensus and broker compromises on the Hill,” Grijalva wrote to Obama. “It’s true that even after four years as DNC Chairman, Governor Dean remains an outsider in DC circles. I believe Governor Dean did a great job rebuilding our party from the bottom up, establishing a 50-state strategy and taking on the forces in both parties who have forced delays and diversion on the key issues of your campaign.”
Other endorsees including Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT) and Alan Grayson (D-FL).
So what are you doing to support putting an honest outsider and real progressive into the White House? They didn’t want him as the Chair of the DNC until we changed their minds.
Here is a Facebook link to Appoint Howard Dean to HHS, and here is a link to tell Obama and your Rep. that you support Howard Dean for HHS. The White House Comment Line is 202-456-1111.
We have the power.
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What have you got to lose? Send an email, make a call. Dean deserves at least that much.
to be the logical choice both politically and pragmatically. He may be an outsider in the DC crowd but didn’t Pres. Obama promise a new politics. Calling the assorted free traders and inside pols who are either advisers or cabinet members ‘rivals’ is silly. As Dean said once “I’m Howard Dean and I’m from the Democratic end of the party”. Or somesuch. He’s great at organizing and contrary to what the media says a moderate, and a great speaker. Rahmn may be a good hammer but to allow the politicization of cabinet posts is way to close to the Bush regime for my taste. I will call but I doubt it will help as it seems as always, the inside politics rule. Look at Burris WTF? and they wonder why people trust them. Dean could apply his strategy to getting healthcare support from the people,much like Obama did with the stimulus.